What is Health Insurance for Daily Wage Workers in India?

Daily wage workers are also known as unauthorised sector labourers. They include construction workers, street vendors, agricultural labourers, and migrant workers. Health insurance for daily wage workers in India is primarily provided through government schemes.

This is because most such workers do not receive employer-provided insurance-sponsored coverage like salaried employees in formal jobs. Keep reading to know more.

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

AB-PMJAY is the main insurance scheme for the daily wage workers. This is the world’s largest government-funded health insurance scheme. The primary target of this scheme is poor and vulnerable families, including many daily wage workers in the informal sector.

Coverage

The coverage under AB-PMJAY includes a sum of up to ₹5 lakh per family per year. Secondary and tertiary hospitalisation are covered.

It covers 1,900 procedures across 27 specialities. It includes both pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses. Outpatient care (OPD) and primary treatment are generally not covered.

Who is Eligible?

• Families identified based on the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 deprivation and occupational criteria.


• Includes rural poor, urban slum dwellers, street vendors, domestic workers, rickshaw pullers, and other informal and low-income workers.


• Many daily wage and migrant workers qualify if their households meet the set criteria.


• No age limit. It covers the entire family.

Employee’s State Insurance Scheme

This is a contributory social security scheme. The scheme is mainly designed for the workers in factories, shops, hotels, transport, and other establishments with 10 or more employees.

Eligibility for Daily Wage Workers

• A worker must work in a covered establishment.


• Monthly wages have to be less than ₹21,000. It has to be ₹25,000 for persons with disabilities.


• Many daily wage or contract workers in such setups are covered if their average earnings fall within the limit.

Other Options and State-Specific Schemes

The other options may include:

1. State Government Schemes: Many States run their own health insurance or top-up schemes for the poor and unorganised sector. Most of these schemes complement PM-JAY.

2. e-Shram Portal: Unorganised workers can register on the e-Shram portal for a unique ID. It will help in accessing welfare schemes, including potential linkages to health benefits or gig worker extensions.

Health insurance for daily-wage workers in India plays a vital role in shielding vulnerable informal-sector labourers from financial devastation. The flagship AB-PMJAY remains the cornerstone of protection.

There are other schemes that are helpful to daily-wage workers. Timely utilisation of these schemes can prevent medical emergencies from pushing households into trouble and poverty.